1 John 1:10
in 1 John 1If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
KJV
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
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This verse in 1 John 1
Commentary
16 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Our rejection of "His word" in respect to our being sinners, implies as the consequence our rejection of His word and will revealed in the law and Gospel as a whole; for these throughout rest on the fact that we have sinned, and have sin.
This site's exposition
we make Him out to be a liar
Verse 10 turns self-deceit into a charge against God: If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar. The chapter opened on the Word of life and closes on His word is not in us, which leads to the advocate of 2:1.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
A commentator
Clement of AlexandriaFrom the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus · Written before 215.
proposed
"If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." His doctrine, that is, or word is truth.
Who is there on earth without sin? Even a baby has contracted it from its parents.
"If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." If thou shalt say, I have not sinned, thou makest Him a liar, while thou wishest to make thyself true. How is it possible that God should be a liar, and man true, when the Scripture saith the contrary, "Every man a liar, God alone true"? Consequently, God true through Himself, thou true through God; because through thyself, a liar.
Among holy men it is impossible not to fall into those small lapses which occur because of something said, some thought, some surreptitious act. These sins are quite different from those which are called mortal, but they are not without blame or reproach.
The Medieval Church1 voice
The Apostle repeats his speech several times, so that through abundant and frequent reproofs he might present to them the full gravity of the transgression and incline them to confession. How great a good is born from confession can be seen from the following words: …
9 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
If we say that we have not sinned, we reject his word, which is spirit and life.
If we say that we have not sinned, etc. For he himself said through a man filled with his Spirit: There is no just man on earth who does good and does not sin (Ecclesiastes 7). But even through himself, he taught us that we …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Yet still we are to retain, even to our lives' end, a deep sense of our past sins. Still if we say, we have not sinned, we make him a liar - Who saith, all have sinned. And his word is not in us - We do not receive it; we give it no place in our hearts.
But God has given his testimony to the continued sin and sinfulness of the world, by providing a sufficient effectual sacrifice for sin, that will be needed in all ages, and to the continued sinfulness of believers themselves by requiring them continually to confess their sins, and apply themselves by faith to the blood of that sacrifice.
If we say that we have not sinned,....
With an account or character of the Mediator's person. He is the great subject of the gospel, the foundation and object of our faith and hope, the bond and cement that unite us unto God. He should be well known; and he is represented here, 1.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
GOD IS LIGHT, and in him is no darkness at all:" and consequently he cannot have fellowship with darkness. God is light, that is purity: and as the thrice Holy One he can hold no communion with iniquity. God is light, that is knowledge, for all things are known unto the Lord, and with ignorance he has no affinity. God is light, that is truth, for he can neither err, nor break his word, and therefore he cannot smile on anything that is false.
GOD IS LIGHT, and in him is no darkness at all:" and consequently he cannot have fellowship with darkness. God is light, that is purity: and as the thrice Holy One he can hold no communion with iniquity. God is light, that is knowledge, for all things are known unto the Lord, and with ignorance he has no affinity. God is light, that is truth, for he can neither err, nor break his word, and therefore he cannot smile on anything that is false. We are constantly erring, first on this side and then on that, for there is darkness in us; God is light essentially, and it is not possible for his nature to be affected by either impurity or error. Out of this attribute of his nature arises the fact that the Lord always deals with things as they are. Man invents fictions, but God creates facts. We conceive of things as they appear, but God sees them as they exist. "Man looketh at the outward appearance, but God looketh at the heart." The dress of things impresses us, but all things are naked and open before him. The Lord never misrepresents, nor has fellowship with misrepresentation. We are for ever hurrying about with our paint and varnish and tinsel, laboring to make the meaner thing appear equal to the more precious, and spending our skill in making the sham seem as brilliant as the reality, but all this is contrary to the way of the Lord. Everything is true in God, and everything is seen in its reality by his all-discerning eye. Because he is light, he deals with things in the light, treating them as they are. If God is to deal graciously with us, we must each one stand in the light, and present ourselves before him as we are. If there be upon our lip a false word, or in our heart a false thought, or in our mind a knowingly false judgment, so far we are out of the sphere in which God can have fellowship with us.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
If we say that we have not sinned - In times that are past. Some perhaps might be disposed to say this; and as the apostle is careful to guard every point, he here states that if a man should take the ground that his past life had been wholly upright, it would prove that he had no true religion.
The words behind it
16 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐὰν | ean | If | G1437 → | 352 times |
| εἴπωμεν | eipomen | we shall say | G2036 → | 925 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| οὐχ | ouch | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἡμαρτήκαμεν, | hemartekamen | we have sinned, | G264 → | 42 times |
| ψεύστην | pseusten | a liar | G5583 → | 10 times |
| ποιοῦμεν | poioumen | we make | G4160 → | 569 times |
| αὐτὸν | auton | Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λόγος | logos | word | G3056 → | 329 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἔστιν | estin | is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| ἡμῖν.¶ | hemin | us. | G3165 → | 1936 times |
ἐὰνIf
eanG1437 →352 times
εἴπωμενwe shall say
eipomenG2036 →925 times
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
οὐχnot
ouchG3756 →1664 times
ἡμαρτήκαμεν,we have sinned,
hemartekamenG264 →42 times
ψεύστηνa liar
pseustenG5583 →10 times
ποιοῦμενwe make
poioumenG4160 →569 times
αὐτὸνHim
autonG846 →5565 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
λόγοςword
logosG3056 →329 times
αὐτοῦof Him
autouG846 →5565 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἔστινis
estinG1510 →2333 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
ἡμῖν.¶us.
heminG3165 →1936 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 John 1:8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
it leads to
- Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- Ecclesiastes 7:20
Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
- James 3:2
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
- Isaiah 53:6
We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
- 1 John 2:4
If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
- Romans 3:23
Through
1 John 2:4If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
it leads to
- 1 John 1:6
If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
- 1 John 1:8
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- 1 John 1:6
Where this verse is studied
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About 1 John
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Andreas of Caesarea, CATENA; Augustine of Hippo, SERMONS 181.1; Augustine of Hippo, Ten Homilies on 1 John 1; Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1241: “Honest Dealing with God” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Clement of Alexandria, From the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 11.9; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 John.